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SEC Acts Against Two in Defunct Fund

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has begun cease-and-desist proceedings against two Southern California men who managed a now-defunct mutual fund in Glendora that raised $11 million from investors. In the cease-and-desist order, the agency alleges that Byron G. Borgardt, 50, of Carlsbad and Eric M. Banhazl, 40, of Glendora misled investors about what the fund was investing in, said SEC official Ron Wood in Los Angeles. The Target Income Fund was formed in 1991 to invest in asset-backed loans but instead invested in loans from a single company, Concord Growth Corp. That fact was not disclosed to investors, the SEC alleges. Investors were also not aware that the CEO and chairman of Concord, Reid Rutherford, became a fund director as well as the fund's portfolio manager, the agency alleges. Attorneys for both men denied that their clients did anything wrong. No investors lost money in the fund.